From a physical standpoint, Malone hasn't exactly been bestowed the same physical gifts as his young teammate. At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Malone is considered by many to be an undersized linebacker. For Malone to excel, especially against bigger opponents, his mind and technique have to take over where his body leaves him short.

With a much-hyped game against the physical Michigan State coming up this week, Malone said his performance on Saturday against South Dakota just wasn't up to standard.

"I feel like I wasn't good enough," Malone said. "I'm a pretty hard critic on myself. I felt like I was a little over-aggressive. A little over-amped."

In the box score, Oregon's 62-13 win over South Dakota on Saturday would appear as an OK performance. With the amount of possessions the Coyotes received due to Oregon's fast-hitting offense, the Ducks allowed 370 yards of total offense, a touchdown and two field goals.

But new defensive coordinator Don Pellum said the performance was far from great. Outside the stats sheet, the Ducks saw a bevy of missed tackles, easy runs up the middle and found themselves on the fortunate end of a South Dakota red zone opportunity that was squandered by a pair of false start penalties.

"No one, at least from the sideline ... played great," said Pellum, a career Oregon assistant who succeeded longtime coordinator Nick Aliotti in January. "Just a lot of guys making plays but no one really stood out."

"I didn't like the urgency," head coach Mark Helfrich added.

They'll have to find it against the Spartans.

The knock on Oregon over the years has been its inability to compete against bigger, more physical opponents. Last year, Stanford upset the Ducks for the second year in a row, stifling Oregon's offense while pounding four-yard gains after four-yard gains up the middle. After watching tape on Michigan State early this week, Malone said making a comparison to Stanford was fair. And the stigma of shrinking against a sizable opponent provides a chip on the Ducks' shoulder.

"It's definitely a pride issue," Malone said. "It's something where we have to step up to the challenge. We really just have to play our game and stay focused on the little details."

The big details for the Spartans are a capable quarterback, strong receivers and a running back who rushed for 1,422 yards and 18 touchdowns a season ago.

The Michigan State offensive line may be a little depleted with injuries, but Jeremy Langford is one of the best running backs in the Big 10 and quarterback Connor Cook is a different animal than what the Ducks saw in South Dakota's Kevin Earl.

"I thought their quarterback was a good player and it was very unfortunate he got hurt," Helfrich said of Earl, who broke his thumb in the third quarter. "But Connor Cook is a man. He's a great football player. Tough guy making plays with his arm and his feet. I think the similarities end there as far as the formations. That's no disrespect to South Dakota. I thought they played well to the end."

The Spartans had little trouble getting out of the blocks in their 45-7 win over Jacksonville State on Saturday. Cook was nearly flawless, throwing for 285 yards on 12-of-13 throwing before sitting out the second half. Tony Lippett caught four balls for 167 yards and two touchdowns while the Spartans combined for 211 yards on the ground. This was all while the vaunted Michigan State defense held the FCS-level Gamecocks to 244 yards of total offense.

Needless to say, the Spartans are going to be bigger, faster and more talented than what Oregon saw on Saturday. None of those concepts are new to Malone, who said they'll be OK as long as the focus is right.

"I always feel like it's more of a game of technique," Malone said. "It's being in the right place at the right time. If I don't play with good technique, I'm going to get tossed around."